It is safe to say that without new patients, one cannot have a retention problem. However, too many chiropractors have grown new patient dependent due to poor retention. While acquiring new patients has to be a focus in your practice, a system should be in place to acquire them from different sources. These sources are sometimes called marketing pillars and should include, referrals, social media, direct mail, internal procedures and screening to name a few. Just like investing, it is never good to put all your eggs in the same basket.  Vary your marketing as you never know when one of your pillars will dry up. 

The Problem

If you are constantly having to attract new patients to make ends meet, it is clear that patients are leaving you as quickly as they are meeting you. New patients have become your drug, only masking a bigger problem you need to fix, which is retention.

When you think about it, there are hundreds if not thousands of programs and products available to chiropractors, focusing on new patient attraction. Many chiropractors pride themselves on attracting over 80 new patients per month, but fail to tell people they only converted 30-40% and out of those, only a very small percentage ever made it to wellness care.  You see, it is not about how many you process, but how many you keep. While new patients are a must, focusing on retention is equally, if not more important for your practice growth.

The Benefits of a High Retention

1. Retention needs to be a constant focus if you are to become ultra successful in practice. As we all know, it is much cheaper and requires much less energy to keep the ones you have than to attract new ones all the time;
2. Retention also means that more patients are getting the true concept of chiropractic care and actually making chiropractic care a part of their regular health routine;
3. Retention implies patients are staying under care longer and experiencing the true benefits of chiropractic care; the miracles that only happen long after the pain has subsided;
4. Better results from long term chiropractic care means more referrals;
5. Energy, time and money spent on attracting new patients is for growth and not to replace the existing patients who left and maintaining status quo;
6. More time to spend with your family and doing other things you love to do.

Retention is not given, it is earned through hard work and dedication. As chiropractors, I feel we have an obligation to inform and influence our patients to a lifetime of chiropractic care. Remove the incongruities in your practice that confuse your message. Look at your practice from a patient's point of view and observe the story that is being told. Is this story a true reflection of your chiropractic heart or that of a practice or doctor that has strayed from the purity and magnificence of chiropractic? 

If you want to improve your retention, you need to make everything in your practice fair game. There are no sacred cows! Your table talk, education system, care plans, new patient and progress exams, procedures, techniques, scripts, forms and equipment to name a few, all tell a story.  Hopefully, it is the same story. Don't leave any room for misinterpretation. A mixed message will more than likely have you looking for another new patient to replace the confused patient who thought he was healed! When you make retention a priority, your practice grows with every new patient.